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Wed: You Don't Say
posted at 2009-04-15 23:59 | Last modified 2009-04-16 08:27
Talk dirty to me
House lawmakers voted 64-53 today to approve H88, the comprehensive sex ed bill, on second reading. And you’ve never heard 120 people try so hard for so long to talk about sex without actually talking about sex.
The squeamishness factor was perhaps best highlighted by House Minority Leader Skip Stam (R-Wake). He distributed a handout that allowed him to avoid saying icky words like “homosexual” or “masturbation” by citing them instead ("page 34, bullet point 5”).
Supporters of the measure pointed to the state’s high teen pregnancy and STI rates (9th through 5th in the nation, respectively) as proof the current state-mandated “abstinence-only” program isn’t working. They think sex ed should follow science, not ideology, and say parents should have the right to choose whether their kids are in a comprehensive class, an abstinence class, or no sex ed class at all.
Republicans, long the champions of parental choice in education (see charter schools) had a tough time arguing against that one, but they did their best – and in some areas, they won.
Collateral damage
Opponents succeeded in winning two amendments to strip out key but controversial provisions.
- One changes the default setting for students whose parents don’t choose a class. The original bill would have put them into comprehensive classes, but today’s amendment changes the default to “no sex ed at all,” which pretty much everyone agrees is a bad idea. Still, it passed 116-1.
- The other amendment rescinds a requirement that comp classes teach respect for “long-term committed relationships” outside marriage. Opponents said it would require teachers to tell students that gay or polygamous relationships are equal to marriage. Dubious as that argument might be, Dems fell over themselves to repudiate it. The amendment carried 105-11.
Bill proponents say neither amendment affects the core mission of the bill. But if that’s the case, why did they fight so hard to get those provisions through committee? To those of us on the sidelines, it was pretty clear that a) the bill was being dismantled on the floor, and b) sponsors would make just about any concession needed to keep it from being voted down entirely.
Say what?
Try as they might, there’s really no way House members could get through this debate without a laugh line or two. The best was an exchange between Buncombe Dem Bruce Goforth and Cary Dem Jennifer Weiss. Goforth had just introduced an amendment to strip out the “long-term committed relationship” language. Weiss didn’t agree.
Weiss: Did you know your wife before you married her?
Goforth: I think that’s a personal question, and I don’t think I should be…
Weiss: I did not mean in the Biblical sense. [floor laughter]
Goforth: I did know my wife before I married her. I didn’t get her off the Internet or anything like that.
Runner-up went to Alamance Republican Cary Allred, who had a question for bill sponsor Dr. Bob England (D-Rutherford) .
Allred: I’m afraid this is gonna sound graphic.
England: I can handle it. [floor laughter]
Allred: Is this curriculum going to allow school boards to offer teaching about unconventional sex?
I’d bet good money no House Page class has ever been happier to be dismissed than the teenagers on the floor today. Downstairs in the press room, a print reporter wondered aloud whether abstinence programs would work better if they required teens to listen to politicians talking about sex.
H88 passed second reading today mostly along party lines. Four Eastern Dems - Braxton, Brisson, Hill, and Spear - joined Republicans in opposing it, while two Republicans, Jim Gulley (Meck) and Carolyn Justice (Pender), joined Dems in supporting it. Those numbers aren’t likely to change much for Thursday’s final vote.
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